Thieves break into Horseshoe

A fan of a Milwaukee Brewers minor-league affiliate and some pals walked out of Ohio Stadium last week with flat-screen televisions, signed memorabilia and other items.

Allison Manning, The Columbus Dispatch

A fan of a Milwaukee Brewers minor-league affiliate and some pals walked out of Ohio Stadium last week with flat-screen televisions, signed memorabilia and other items.

All they left behind was a purple hat with the logo for the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, Ohio State University Deputy Police Chief Richard Morman said yesterday.

The theft took place after the Illinois game on Nov. 3 — between 11:20 p.m. on Nov. 4 and 8 the next morning, police said.

The thieves apparently scaled the fence that surrounds the stadium, then used a trash can to climb onto the suites’ patio, Morman said. The doors to the suites were unlocked.

Six suites were entered, he said, and four flat-screen TVs, valued at $2,000 total, were taken. Eleven autographed photographs valued at $200 were taken after the glass of the frames was smashed. The memorabilia was owned by the companies or families who lease the suites, Morman said. A kiosk on the Huntington level was broken into, and $1,800 worth of merchandise was taken.

Police are working on getting video to identify the thieves, but they’re also relying on the hat left behind. It’s a purple hat with the Timber Rattlers’ logo: a snake wrapped around a W.